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A Madison man dying of a cancer caused by asbestos fears his lawsuit to recover damages could be stopped by a little-noticed provision slipped into the state budget.
But a lobbyist for the Pennsylvania company seeking the change said it wouldn't affect most asbestos lawsuits and would help preserve jobs in the state.
The complicated proposal, which has not had any public hearing, would limit plaintiffs' ability to sue companies that before 1972 merged with smaller firms that had made asbestos. It's just one provision in the $62 billion budget bill that lawmakers are racing to finish by a Monday deadline.
Supporters of the provision say it is narrowly written to wipe away liability for the Crown Cork and Seal Co. of Philadelphia, a company with plants in Wisconsin that has paid out huge damages for buying a company that had previously made asbestos.
"I really do think this proposal balances justice for people who were wronged with common sense liability law," said author Rep. Kristen Dexter, D-Eau Claire, who worries workers in her district could be affected by asbestos lawsuits against Crown.
But Debra Johnson, of Madison, worries the bill could affect lawsuits against more companies than just Crown Cork.
Johnson's husband, Caden, is expected to die within months from mesothelioma, a cancer that Johnson said was caused by his breathing in asbestos particles in the boiler room of his former employer, the now defunct Methodist Hospital that became part of Meriter Hospital. Johnson, 55, spoke for her 67-year-old husband because he is no longer able to breathe well enough to speak easily for himself.
To pay for Caden's pain and Debra's expected loss, Johnson and her husband are suing other manufacturers of asbestos that was possibly used in the hospital boiler room. The couple are not suing Crown, but their attorney, Jill Rakauski of Racine, said she's concerned that Johnson's lawsuit against the other companies could be affected by the proposal.
Crown lobbyist Forbes McIntosh said the company has already passed similar legislation in 10 states. In the other 10 states where similar legislation has been passed, no company besides Crown has used the provisions to defend itself from lawsuits, McIntosh said.
In 1963, Crown bought and eventually merged with Mundet Cork Co., a company that had previously made asbestos, for $7 million, McIntosh said. Since then, the company has paid $500 million to asbestos victims, he said.
The proposal in the budget would protect companies such as Crown that merged with an asbestos maker by limiting their legal liability in asbestos cases to the present day value of the company that actually made the asbestos. In Crown's case, the present day value of Mundet would be about $60 million, meaning that Crown would no longer be liable in Wisconsin for any damages under the proposal, McIntosh said.
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